Little progress on jobs for disabled Americans

WASHINGTON (AP) - Whether it means opening school track meets to a deaf child or developing a new lunch menu with safe alternatives for students with food allergies, recent Obama administration decisions could significantly affect Americans with disabilities.

But there's been little progress in one of the most stubborn challenges: employing the disabled.

According to government data, of the 29 million working-age Americans with a disability, 5.2 million are employed. That's 18 percent, and is down from 20 percent four years ago.

The employment rate for people without a disability was 63 percent in February.

The job numbers for the disabled haven't budged much since passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

The National Council on Disability's Jeff Rosen said long-standing prejudicial attitudes need to be addressed to boost jobs.

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